Search Engine Optimization Tips that will Shape Your Rankings in 2016

SEO techniques are changing at a rapid pace thanks to the updates that Google periodically makes to its search engine algorithm. This also means that the rankings of websites fluctuate rapidly. Although black hat search engines rankings are ‘a thing of the past’, SEO has evolved phenomenally and still works.

Here are few SEO tips that will help you stay ahead in 2016:

#1 Great Content

“Content is King!” You must have heard this phrase many times by now. However, this fact is not going to change. You do not have to worry about Google’s lethal algorithm. Develop a habit, and continue to write engaging content that entertains, informs, and entices the reader. Remember, your content is the key to attracting traffic and is very critical to achieving top rankings for competitive phrases. Inbound links are the biggest way to influence search engines. Creating incredible content that people will want to share is still the best way to earn links. Do not focus just on keyword research and stuffing keywords into text content on your website. The practice of sacrificing on creating truly engaging content will only cost you dearly in the end.

#2 Competitor Analysis

This is not a new concept, yet it continues to be one of the most overlooked aspects of SEO. Competitor analysis is the basis of SEO. Competitor analysis is nothing new, and companies have been researching their competitor’s links for years. However, by analyzing a competitor’s back-links and manually reviewing which links are high in value and noteworthy, you can perform a link outreach and try to get a link from the same site.

#3 Optimize for All Search Engines

It appears that search engines like Yahoo and Bing may slowly takeover Google’s market share in 2016. This may not happen overnight. Nevertheless, several other search engines such as Yahoo and Bing are working hard to become the default search engine on popular web browsers instead of Google. As a result, it makes sense to optimize for other search engines as well.

#4 Mobilegeddon 

By implementing mobile-friendly ranking algorithms like Mobilegeddon and the Google Mobile Friendly Update On April 21, 2015, Google has given a boost to mobile-friendly pages. Mobile SEO will continue to rise in popularity over the coming year making it important that your mobile marketing strategy is in place.

#5 Don’t just rely on Google

Google rankings may fluctuate. Although it may account for the majority of your traffic today, but what if future algorithm updates hit your website hard. What if your Google visibility, goes away tomorrow? Keep in mind that several other forms of Newsletters and subscriber-based content will help you hold on to traffic / customers no matter what search engines algorithms do. So reach out to your audience and continue to leverage content marketing by creating great content, focusing on blogs, using social media etc. — this will help you grow your audience and survive the whims and fancies of search engines.

Finally:

Search Engines have extremely powerful bots crawling the web. However, humans still do things like pick up phone and call you to get answers about your services, and they also sign up for your newsletters. Ensuring that the content on your sites is user centric and not keyword stuffed - is the best way to improve bottom-line results, and is one SEO technique that will never fail.

Custom Android App Development Trends for 2016

Custom Android App Development Trends for 2016 Google Play Store, the official app store for the Android operating system; is a highly competitive place from where millions of apps are available for download. Android devices are undoubtedly the new norm. Right from startups, small and medium sized businesses to enterprise level companies, literally everyone is going mobile. Creating an app is among the top priorities for businesses across the globe. If you are planning to launch your Android app, here are the few trends to watch out in 2016.

User experience will become the focus, influencing the app development strategy. 2016 will witness a paradigm shift in Android application development. Development teams will focus on apps that cater to as many – if not all of the user expectations, as possible. With several new apps launching on the Google’s Play Store daily, competition is at its peak as well, thus the focus on developing an improved in-app user experience is more critical than ever. Data from analytic tools will play a major role in helping app developers refine and provide a better user experience.

These trends will dominate the custom Android app development arena in 2016

Location based support

Information is getting exceedingly contextual and localized. Users are mainly interested in localized services. This takes personalization to the next level. Think about it - you can now get details about discounts or special events in your area, right on your mobile. Location-based services are gaining popularity. It will be a daunting task to build sophisticated location-based apps, that keep you upto date, and do not drain the battery of your Android device.
Beacon and location based Wi-Fi services have been getting a lot of attention and in the coming year more businesses will make use of such Beacon and location based Wi-Fi services in their apps.

Biometrics will Become Essential

Android Marshmallow saw the launch of fingerprint security. 2016 will see the use of more biometric security systems for Android smartphones. Large financial institutions will use apps that take thumb impressions and biometric security extensively to combat security threats. Alphanumeric passwords and pattern locks will soon become primitive options.

Internet of Things will Witness Huge Growth

The Internet of Things will allow connecting with multiple devices and controlling smart appliances, allowing users to use their Android devices to optimize the use of home appliances and other ‘smart’ equipment.
The Internet of Things movement is all about bridging the gap between the Android device and items embedded with electronics, software or sensors, allowing the user to control them.

Enterprise apps will steal the thunder in the market In the year 2016,
large enterprises will have their own apps for consumer services and data management. Prominent developers predict that enterprise apps will dominate the market. We will witness the launch of many more enterprises apps, designed to improve efficiency and productivity, as well as to streamline everyday processes.

Android devices will continue to provide a ubiquitous experience. So stay tuned to see how these trends add a new dimension to the Android app development industry.

Little Known Ways to Hire Android Developers

With millions of users across the globe, Android is one of the most popular platforms. Many companies are in a mad rush to launch Android app to gain market traction. If you are planning to outsource Android applicationdevelopment or hire Android developer, everything boils down to understanding entire mobile development processes.

How to hire the right dedicated developer for your Android app? Whether to hire Android developer or freelance developer? There are several questions that are likely to bog you down. It is important that you select the best Android developer.

Here are few tips to hire Android developer that meets your business goals.

Look for Experience

When you decide to outsource the project to Android app developer, you should focus on developer’s experience. It is important to find out whether the developer has worked on similar projects in the past. If you find that app developer has worked on a similar project, there are greater chances your project would be completed successfully.

However, in the app world there are no credits given to who developed the app. Don’t shy away from speaking directly with developer’s current and former clients. This will substantiate the claims of developers and help you verify whether they actually created the apps they claimed.

Don’t Get Bogged Down by Price

It is important to keep budget considerations in your mind. However, don’t make low-cost deals a sole consideration in decision making. You need to be clear about cost and milestones. Keep in mind that companies charging questionably less compared to competitors are cutting corners and often indicates low development standards.

Never undermine testing

The Android world is highly fragmented and diverse world. There are several device size and versions of operating systems. It is very difficult to maintain consistency across all devices. Ask your Android developer about testing procedures and bug fixing. You need to find out how quickly the bugs will be fixed.

Get contract mechanism in place

Remember, app is all about idea and execution. You need to protect your app idea at all costs. Before you hire Android developer, you should sign a non-disclosure agreement or a legally binding contract that clearly states app and source code ownership. Don’t skip this step as it is crucial to protect intellectual property rights as well as customized features.

Communication skills matter

Android app development lifecycle is a collaborative process. The quality of your app directly depends on your ability to clearly communicate app functionality to Android developer. Does your Android app developer prefer Skype chat, email, and phone communication or use a project management tool? You need to know how frequently your dedicated developer will provide status update about the project. All the terms of contract should include support and communication with developers as it improves the quality of app.

 
Finally

It is difficult tohire Android developer and the process of selecting the right developer could be painstakingly slow and time-consuming. But this entire process can save time, resources and money in future.

Qual Dev offers flexible models to hire Android developers in New York as per your own requirements. R Get in touch with your requirement and let’s discuss your Android app idea.

SEO & Ecommerce: Dawn of New Reality

Ecommerce is a fiercely competitive place dominated by big giants. You can learn a great deal from big competitors especially if you are under the process of optimizing your website. Think about it what’s the point behind having a cutting-edge ecommerce website if your site does not appear on Google’s search results. How will your prospective users know that your store exists?

On the other hand, if you rank high in the search engines, your site is likely to attract more traffic and more people are likely to find you. The more traffic you get, the more are the chances of making a sale. SEO for ecommerce site is most important and often the most neglected part.

Not convinced? Do you think SEO is not for ecommerce sites?

We will provide few reasons that will help you understand the importance of SEO forecommerce sites

Google Search is Key to the Decision-Making Process

Today’s users are savvy and well-connected. It is the social media age where the decision to buy products are made online. Users often look for product information on search engines. Thus, if you turn a blind eye towards SEO you are putting your site at risk of not being visible to customers during the buying cycle. This will invariably hamper your growth as your prospective customers don’t even know that you exist in the ecommerce space. On the other hand, your competitors who leverage SEO are likely to scale new heights.

SEO for ecommerce site could open up a whole new world of possibilities and enhance chances of improving revenue and sales at a phenomenal pace.

SEO Works Even With Low Budgets

If you are running on a tight budget, SEO can be a life jacket. You don’t have to spend your precious dollars on paid campaigns or expensive banner ads. Most of effective SEO techniques are free and cost-effective. Thankfully, you don’t have to pay cost per click or impressions or conversion. But, with SEO you get high-quality traffic free of cost in large volumes. Of course, you need to hire SEO professional but you are less dependent on paying per click to get traffic. You can integrate content marketing and social media marketing in your overall SEO strategy. Integrating SEO with other marketing activities has a multiplier effect.

As a part of your strategy, you can buy ads. You would be surprised to get outstanding results even with relatively low budgets by simply implementing SEO best practices. It improves the efficiency of marketing activities and enhances organic search visibility.

SEO Generates Measurable Results

Unlike paid advertising that generates traffic as long as you pay, SEO provides results with lasting impact over the long term. You can’t just unplug SEO activities. If don’t correctly in a right manner, SEO gains momentum over period of time till the point that you dominate your niche. And the best part is that you don’t put a brake on traffic if you temporarily stop SEO or promotional activities. The efforts and hard work that you put in over a past few years shows in search engine rankings. Your site will be visible to your audience courtesy organic search results.

SEO for E-Commerce Site: New Way Forward

Very often ecommerce store owners fail to seethe opportunity of SEO to improve bottom-line results. SEO does not form a part of marketing agenda or get the budget needed. This mistake could cost a fortune to store owners. SEO should be the driving force to promote your ecommerce site and not an afterthought. After all, this technique could drive truckloads of traffic to your ecommerce site. However, if you ignore SEO, your site could be lost in the oblivion in Google. The good news is that you don’t need big dollars to implement SEO strategy. If done correctly, SEO could generate result in relatively short time duration with impact that lasts for years.

Little Known Ways to Hire Android Developers

With millions of users across the globe, Android is one of the most popular platforms. Many companies are in a mad rush to launch Android app to gain market traction. If you are planning to outsource Android application development or hire Android developer, everything boils down to understanding entire mobile development processes.

How to hire the right dedicated developer for your Android app? Whether to hire Android developer or freelance developer? There are several questions that are likely to bog you down. It is important that you select the best Android developer.

Here are few tips to hire Android developer that meets your business goals.

Look for Experience

When you decide to outsource the project to Android app developer, you should focus on developer’s experience. It is important to find out whether the developer has worked on similar projects in the past. If you find that app developer has worked on a similar project, there are greater chances your project would be completed successfully.

However, in the app world there are no credits given to who developed the app. Don’t shy away from speaking directly with developer’s current and former clients. This will substantiate the claims of developers and help you verify whether they actually created the apps they claimed.

Don’t Get Bogged Down by Price

It is important to keep budget considerations in your mind. However, don’t make low-cost deals a sole consideration in decision making. You need to be clear about cost and milestones. Keep in mind that companies charging questionably less compared to competitors are cutting corners and often indicates low development standards.

Never undermine testing

The Android world is highly fragmented and diverse world. There are several device size and versions of operating systems. It is very difficult to maintain consistency across all devices. Ask your Android developer about testing procedures and bug fixing. You need to find out how quickly the bugs will be fixed.

Get contract mechanism in place

Remember, app is all about idea and execution. You need to protect your app idea at all costs. Before you hire Android developer, you should sign a non-disclosure agreement or a legally binding contract that clearly states app and source code ownership. Don’t skip this step as it is crucial to protect intellectual property rights as well as customized features.

Communication skills matter

Android app development lifecycle is a collaborative process. The quality of your app directly depends on your ability to clearly communicate app functionality to Android developer. Does your Android app developer prefer Skype chat, email, and phone communication or use a project management tool? You need to know how frequently your dedicated developer will provide status update about the project. All the terms of contract should include support and communication with developers as it improves the quality of app.

 
Finally

It is difficult to hire Android developer and the process of selecting the right developer could be painstakingly slow and time-consuming. But this entire process can save time, resources and money in future.

Qualdev offers flexible models to hire Android developers in New York as per your own requirements. R Get in touch with your requirement and let’s discuss your Android app idea.

The Secret of Successful Android Mobile Application Development

Developing an Android application can be an overwhelming task. With millions of users across the globe, Android is one of the best platforms to reach out to your target audience. According to IDC, the number of smartphones with Android will rise to around 1.53 billion during 2015 and 2019, up from 1.2 billion in 2015, with a market share of a whopping 79 percent.

The power of ‘open source’ makes Android the favorite of developers. Android is undoubtedly a robust development platform and several developers are transitioning to Android.

If you are planning to launch an Android app, remember to embrace the diversity of the Android ecosystem. This blog will provide several important pointers that will help you with Android mobile application development process.

Implement Best Coding Practices:
Java is the main programming language for Android. This means that developers need to be clear with the fundamentals of object-oriented programming. An in-depth understanding would allow you to develop sophisticated and robust application that will delight your users.

Embrace Fragmentation and Diversity:
Android apps contain application classes, activities and fragments. The Android platform is available in different OS versions and screen resolutions. Unlike iOS, Android developers need to support a variety of devices. This makes testing an app on every Android device available a rigorous task. Using density-independent pixels in place of pixels in layouts, helps tackle this problem. This approach allows Android to auto calculate the correct amount of pixels of the user’s phone, leading to consistency over a variety of devices. Always keep in mind that the more versions your app is meant to support, the more rigorous testing will need to be.

Don't copy UI Elements from Other Platforms:
Developers are looking for quick time to market factors on different platforms. However, in this mad rush to distribute apps for several platforms, developers often mimic UI elements. Do not forget that different platforms have special rules and best practices governing user experience. Design choices for one platform will look horribly out of place in another platform. There is no one size fits all approach. You might alienate users by creating inconsistent apps. Android provides their own set of UI elements to give users the best experience. For example, each platform provides icons for common functions such as deleting or sharing documents. While migrating your app to Android, do not forget to substitute icons with Android-specific counterparts.

Plan Navigation:
When it comes to Android mobile application development, keep in mind that navigation allows users to quickly find content in your app. Navigation allows users to identify paths to perform actions. It is important to identify your users’ goals to devise a navigation structure that meets their priorities. If you own a travel app, your users may want to make reservations or post reviews about hotels. The navigation should allow users to perform the actions they want to, quickly in a hassle free manner.

Never Compromise on User Experience:
The Android world is highly competitive, developers work really hard to launch the perfect app. However, it could be very tempting to take a route that would result in quick monetary gains. In the app world, advertisements are often placed in an intrusive manner resulting in a deterioration of the user experience. There are several ways to monetize Android apps. You do not have to bombard the users with advertisements. Users are willing to pay for ads-free app as they dislike ads. Just focus on creating high quality apps that your target audience would love. Think about in-apps purchases to monetize your app.

Focus on Performance Optimization:
Today’s mobile users don’t have time for apps that are slow on performance and speed and absolutely hate applications that eat device space or drain out battery. The size and speed of your Android app will play a defining role in your app’s success. Optimize your app for speed and performance and avoid using needless space.

Finally
We hope these tips help you during the Android app development process. You may come across hurdles and may get bogged down by the fragmented world of Android. However, concentrate on the millions of users that you could reach out to with your Android application. Just focus on your users and you will experience success.

Top 7 Must-Have Reasons to Build an iPhone Application

In this app freak age, business owners have realized that along with having a website, it is important to have a mobile app of their own. However, advancements in technology roll out constantly, and the number of application development platforms increase as well, making new releases frequent these days. The demand and importance for an iPhone/iPad application is increasing at a very rapid pace.

The number of iPhone apps developed per year has increased constantly since the year 2008. Nearly 85 billion applications were downloaded from the Apple app store during July 2008 to Oct 2014 so far, and this number continues to rise exponentially!

Do these figures catch your attention now? Have you made having an Apple app a part of your business strategy?

This graph illustrates the number of apps downloaded from the Apple App Store from July 2008 to October 2014 (in billions).

Studying the reasons behind this high download rate can show the innumerable benefits that an iPhone and iPad app can provide your business. We have listed the key reasons below so that they are easy to understand and use for making educated decisions. If you are not completely convinced yet, you will be once you go through the benefits of having an iPhone app. So, let us glance through some of the most important business benefits that an iPhone application provides.

1. Serves As A Marketing Tool: The days when people would need to go from door to door in order to convince people to buy their products and services are long gone. In this digital marketing and app world, marketing has many new advanced techniques. However, your iPhone app can serve as a promotion tool, as it helps you reach out to potential customers.
2. Builds Strong Brand Loyalty: Once a user downloads your app to their smartphone, the logo of your company will serve as a constant reminder of the products and services you offer. In addition, people will talk about you if they like your services and spread words about your brand.
3. Security: most iPhone apps act as a strong shield against virus, threats and malwares, ensuring secure transactions, so that people can trust them more easily.
4. Instant Gratification To Customers: In this fast-paced world, who would not like to gain quick access to information? An iPhone app is the best source of information for your customers. It displays your products and services as well as provides easy access to your contact information.
5. Better Experience And Quality: Apple’s app store maintains very strict standards, forcing developers to build high-quality apps for iPhone and iPad. This has ultimately made a good impact on the user experience. iPhone apps are user friendly and easy to use, hence most customers download and use them.
6. App For Every Business: Nowhere is it written that iPhone apps are perfect just for huge enterprises; they hold equal importance for small businesses and medium sized companies as well. This means that you must have an iPhone app to market yourself and your services; irrespective of the type of business, be it education, banking, media or any other sector.
7. Generates High Revenue: Even if the number of downloads are a bit lower than any other platform, the revenue generated is maximum here because of high in-app sales. Getting a well designed app for your business, will help you generate high revenue.

Final words…

There is a good chance that you are convinced to get an iPhone application developed for yourself, after realizing the advantages it could bring your business. So, there is no procrastinating. Go and get one…